Jets strike Gaza after militants fire mortars
JERUSALEM — Israeli jets on Tuesday bombed targets in the Gaza Strip hours after militants from the territory fired fired at least 50 rockets and mortars shells toward communities in southern Israel in what appeared to be the largest single barrage since the 2014 war.
The Israeli military said no one was hurt and that most of the shells were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, though one landed near a kindergarten shortly before school opened.
The high volume of projectiles came as tensions have been running high in recent weeks following the deaths of more than 100 Palestinians from Israeli fire during mass protests along the border. Israel says it holds Gaza’s Hamas rulers responsible for the bloodshed.
“Israel will exact a heavy price from those who seek to harm it, and we see Hamas as responsible for preventing such attacks,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said following the barrage.
Shortly after that warning, Israeli jets began dropping bombs on what security officials in Gaza said was an Islamic Jihad militant training site.
Smoke was seen rising near the town of Deir al-Balah in the coastal strip, and the Israeli military said the explosions there were related to its activity. No injuries were reported.
The Israeli military said it carried out over 35 air strikes on seven sites across Gaza, including an unfinished tunnel near the city of Rafah that crossed under the border into Egypt.
The sudden surge in violence brought back memories of the devastating 2014 war between Israel and Hamas. That round of fighting began with tit-for-tat attacks on both sides and escalated into a full-blown war that inflicted heavy damage on Gaza.
“We are prepared for a great variety of scenarios,” said the army’s chief spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis. “The way the coming days look will depend on the choices of the Hamas terrorist organization.” Islamic Jihad was believed to be behind the mortar fire, which appeared to be retaliation for the deaths of three of its fighters in an Israeli air strike earlier this week. But Israel believes Hamas, a larger Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, gave Islamic Jihad a green light to strike.
“We are sticking to the right of return as well as responding to the Zionist crimes,” said Khaled al-Batsh, an Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza.
Elsewhere in Gaza, two fishing boats carrying students and medical patients set sail for Cyprus in an attempt to break an 11-year naval blockade that Egypt and Israel imposed after Hamas seized power in Gaza. Hamas acknowledged it was mostly a symbolic act.
Israeli troops boarded one of boats without incident on Tuesday and detained 17 people. The ship will be towed to the port at Ashdod. The second boat returned to Gaza on its own.